Doctor with poison expertise accused of fatally poisoning wife, Minnesota cops say

Two months after a 32-year-old Minnesota woman’s sudden and unexpected death, her husband is accused of killing her, police said.

Betty Bowman, of Rochester, was checked into an emergency room at the Mayo Clinic on Aug. 16, suffering from symptoms of severe dehydration, according to an Oct. 23 news release from the Rochester Police Department. Despite receiving care at one of the most renowned hospitals in the country, Bowman’s symptoms only worsened and she died four days later, according to police.

Bowman’s obituary blamed “a sudden onset autoimmune and infectious illness” for her death.

The Wichita, Kansas, native earned her pharmaceutical doctorate from the University of Kansas, completed her residency in Topeka, and in May 2021, she married her husband, Connor Bowman, the obituary said.

Two years and five months after their wedding, Bowman was dead.

“Her kindness and intelligence was noticed and valued by friends and strangers alike,” it read. “She is survived by her fur-baby Sir Crumpet II of Mulberry (corgi), her husband Connor, and so many special friends and loved ones.”

But investigators harbored suspicions about Bowman’s death, according to police. The department received a call on Aug. 21 from a medical examiner who believed she had been poisoned, and an investigation was launched, police said.

During the investigation, police learned that Connor worked for Poison Control before becoming a doctor and found evidence suggesting that he poisoned his wife by giving her “a drug for an ailment she did not have,” the release said.

Connor told people Betty died of a rare disease called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, court documents said, KAAL reported. He’s also responsible for the similar explanation that appeared in her obituary, documents said.

Police arrested Connor, 30, on Oct. 20 on a charge of second-degree murder, according to the release.

He was booked into the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center and is awaiting arraignment, records show.

This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Doctor with poison expertise accused of fatally poisoning wife, Minnesota cops say."